Sometimes We Love (Over Coffee)
by Kawaii Dragoness
Summary: First part of my new "Storytellers" arc! 3 new Gundam pilots, 1xOC, 2xOC, 5xOC, possible 3x4. Rating for future lime and deathfic. I can't summarize it without giving it away!
1. Default Chapter

Sometimes We Love (Over Coffee)  
By Kawaii Dragoness  
Author's Notes/Dedications

Notes: This random idea's been floating about my head as a revival of an old saga/inside joke known as Combination Unite that flopped soon after September 11th. The saga was long, intense, and yet it just didn't work with my style nor my characters. This time, I'm taking liberal means with the original idea Combination Unite promised and throwing them into a big bucket, exaggerating, and using my new style and some ideas taken from the structure of Mary Shelly's Frakenstein (great book!). Oh, and I'm using a screwed timeline, so that the war is still going on even in AC 198, and Treize is still alive. The girls are all 17 at the beginning of the fic, and therefore meet the pilots at 16. The pilots are all 18 at the beginning of the fic, and therefore meet the girls at 17. Dates are in international format (eg: 23 May 197--May 23, AC 197.)

Warnings: Deathfic (Chaper 1), Mary Sues (as if you didn't know), cursing (Chapters 3 and 5 mostly), citrus (Chapter 6, one scene), sap (Chapters 3 and 4 mostly)...the rest seems tame. 

As usual, my muses deserve some thanking....

First of off, a HUGE thanks to Diyosa (whose character is embodied in Keita in this fic.) Thanks for being interesting and liberal when I was being boring and conservative. Also thanks for constantly pounding me with questions--they help to flesh things out. And let's not forget the sit-ups and the clubbing scene! ^_^ Plus the power of Moopies and the X-Ray thingee on Kid-Pix. And I know I partially stole from your flashback theory yet not. Who cares? Do enjoy.

Thanks also to Ankou, known as Ally-chan in this fic. Because of your birthday, this existed. And let's not forget the constant pounding to get CU back into place. And my failed attempts to write a halfway-decent 1xN1. And the time when Caroline looked into my artbook and thought that Treize-sama was well-endowed--and called Fei's kawaii ponytail a "rat-tail". snickers Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy this more than anybody else.

More thanks to daimonfire9--for enduring my rants when you didn't understand them, for writing such a friggin' good Harry Potter fanfic on your first try, for writing such a delicious R-rated H/D shower scene at the very beginning, and for attempting to understand. ^_^ Yes, I'm still asking Catseye for that one GW tape to show you that'll get you hooked. I know you won't get this, but enjoy it anyway.

Thanks also to Faith Harris--for being an otaku and a Preppie at the same time, for getting lots of good 1x5x2 (did I get that right?) ideas, for finding 13x6x13 just as delicious as I do, and for just plain being insane. Oh, and let's not forget the Ramna 1/2 CD that I still have yet to thank you enough for! This barely holds a candle to the good stuff you write, but enjoy anyway, because I say so.

Finally, thanks to every single person involved with the making, translating, and publicising of Shin Kidou Senki Gundam Wing. If it wasn't for you (and for Ankou, and for Diyosa), this just wouldn't exist. And that wouldn't be a good thing. Oh, and by the way, to Shuko Murase--thanks for making Wufei's character. I couldn't be more grateful. purrs

"speech" emphasis thoughts ~sound effects~

Dedication: A chibi Heero pops up holding the fic in his left hand and a cake in his right. Happy Birthday Oni-san! (Saya, Ankou, whatever you call yourself nowadays) He leaves in a poof of smoke, leaving the fic and cake behind. The pages of the story ruffle, and the first page falls before your face....


	2. Chapter 1: Incident

Sometimes We Love (Over Coffee)  
Chapter 1: Incident  
By Kawaii Dragoness

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Date: 23 May 198

The lights of the dark hangar were buzzed on, revealing three Gundams in a row. The one on the left was in the shape of a golden Chinese dragon, with huge ruby eyes. It was coiled around itself--if it was alive, one would assume that it was sleeping. A tiny form climbed up to the dragon's head. The form had chin-length black hair and dark brown almond-shaped eyes--and was quite obviously female. It was surprising how nimble she was, for she wore a traditional red Chinese dress with golden flowers. As her brown leather sandals got a foothold onto the top of the dragon's head, Kavina breathed a huff of relief. She opened a small hidden door on the dragon's head, and climbed in. 

The tiny cockpit lit up before her, and the dragon whirred to life. Kavina flipped on the intercom, waiting for the others to enter their Gundams.

To her right, in the middle of the row, there was a black wolf-Gundam, also in a "sleeping" form. Its amethyst eyes seemed eternally alert, however, and another girl came up to it. This one had spiky moss-green hair and green-gray eyes. She jumped her way up, taking care of her tight leather miniskirt and purple tube top on the way. Her own black high-top sneakers landed with a soft ~thump~. She also climbed into the Gundam and turned on her own intercom.

"Kavvie?" Allaya asked.

"Who else, Ally-chan?" Kavvie replied. "I'm just waiting for Keita now."

The mentioned girl was already halfway up a somewhat smaller griffin Gundam, folded up in its own wings, which was silvery like her long swept-back hair--except that her hair was light blue, such a light that it almost seemed silvery. Her eyes, a deep shade of blue with a slight tint of purple, were focused in concentration as her knee-length leather boots (hidden under dark blue low-rise boot-cut jeans) swiftly climbed their way up the suit. She made it up with a small grin, dusting something off of her low green t-shirt. As she finally got in, Keita flipped everything on.

"All rightie, Keita in. The guys seem to be ready," she said.

"So what are we waiting for?" Kavvie asked. "C'mon, let's go!"

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It had been an average mission for the Gundam pilots (this time, to blow up a base in Mexico), which now numbered eight. Yet this one, it could be said, would lead them to the most ill of fates...

It started when Kavvie was surrounded by Leos, and therefore unable to guard Wufei from a new, nameless MS on the field. The brown suit was huge and round, yet extremely fast and powerful. It seemed to mainly use a large beam cannon. Since Altron was nearly useless against such a weapon, the girl's concern had an obvious source.¹ "Dragon, status!" she screamed over the intercom.

"Dragon, in. I can't do anything to this MS--if I get close, it'll just destroy me with that beam cannon," Wufei replied.

"And I can't fucking et away from these Leos! They're like leeches!" Kavvie replied angrily, tearing them apart with various weapons--but it seemed that any time she killed one, another would pop up nearby that she'd have to get off.

A giant wolf-Gundam bounded towards the hapless dragoness, tearing Leos apart in her path. "This help?" Ally-chan asked with a grin over the intercom. "I sure hope it does, y'know."

"Yeah, much! Thanks." Kavvie, finally free, flew over to her partner in love and war when she noticed that the MS it was battling suddenly began to warm up the giant beam cannon at its front.

"Dragon, get behind the MS! That beam's gonna kill you!"

"I'm trying to!" Wufei replied. "It turns with me!" He tried to get around it in vain, cursing the day Master Ou decided not to give his Gundam nearly enough speed. "Oh--shit." It fired, the giant beam of blue light directed straight at him in a literal sense--it would hit the cockpit first, and therefore him.

Pilot 05 was praying to the gods that he'd survive. When that showed no hope, he prayed for the safety and protection of his friends. But all was lost.... The images of life were flashing by--scholarly studies, Meilan, Master Ou, Shenlong, the other pilots, Sally, and finally the new three girls. Kavvie's smile...what had happened the night before....

The split-second explosion caused a painful, instant death. Nobody knows what his last words were.

Pilot S1 [Kavvie] stared with intense eyes at the pile of wreakage left behind, knowing that Wufei was somewhere, anywhere, inside there--and dead. "I...." The single word broke the empty silence that had followed. "I didn't know it was possible." Tears welled up in her eyes. "I didn't know that the gods could turn their backs on the hour of death. I didn't know that a beam cannon could destroy a Gundam. And I especially didn't know that anyone could be so cruel...I mean...." The tears fell, empty as they were, and strangely comforting.

"Kavvie, there was nothing you could do," Keita said sadly. "I'm so sorry...."

"No need...no need." Kavvie said sadly. She pressed a few buttons on her intercom and straightened up. "Pilot of the unnamed MS, identify yourself. Come out as the murderer of 05."

"Phoenix would be the one you wish to speak to," a female voice said. It was a cold, dark voice with a thick foreign accent--which one, it was impossible to tell. Nobody seemed to recognize it.

"Who is your commander, Phoenix?" Kavvie asked shakily.

"None other but his Excellency, of course." 

I thought that Une was the only woman who was Treize's direct subordinate--and that voice is way too high to be a falsetto. And I also thought that Treize was too "intrigued" by Wufei to order an OZzie to kill him off. "Was your mission to kill 05?" Kavvie asked out loud.

"That is confidential. Now goodbye, oh ill-fated pilots...." The suit blasted off into the recesses of space, taking the Leos that were left with her.

"You shall pay for your crimes, Phoenix...." Kavvie whispered. "I swear it...on my dear love's body!"

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Treize sat in his office when someone knocked at his door. "Come in."

"Treize-sama, your mission is completed," Phoenix answered. She had auburn-colored hair that was pulled into a tight bun, two curling tendrils behind her ears. Her complexion had a definitive pinkish tint--or maybe it just looked that way with her hair. Her gray eyes regarded her commander and master.

"Which was your choice?" Treize asked.

"05. His weaknesses are my strenghts, and it was an easy mission."

"I once had a swordfight against that one...he intrigued me. Still, I left the choice up to you, so I shall not hold that against you. And what of S1? I know that she is quite fond of him--as he is her."

"She tried to pull information out of me. She was deeply distressed after the battle--she might not fight in the coming months."

"And yet she has no choice but to. She might even double for her lover. We shall see, we shall see.... I will find out when the pilots are next attempting to reach a base. Speaking of which, what is the status on the base and the Leos?"

"The base was indeed destroyed, but two-thirds of the Leos survived."

"Good, good. We barely needed that Mexico base anyway. The Leos...Une will take care of those. Next time the pilots attempt to reach the base, you have the same instructions--except that I also want you either let S1 go free, or capture her. Do not kill her. Understood?"

"Yes, your Excellency."

"How do you like the Infernum?" Treize asked casually.

"It's a good suit, and I like its strengths. Very nice. I'm learning to work with it."

"Would you be even happier with it if I installed the ZERO system into it?"

"I can only dream of being talented enough to handle the ZERO, your Excellency...but if you think I am capable, that would be my greatest honor."

"I will see if it is possible for you to get it by the next battle. In the meanwhile, I have set up simulators for you so that you can master it while waiting for your mission. Report your status on the simulators when asked. Understood?"

"Yes, your Excellency."

"You are dismissed." She left qucikly, her OZ boots clicking before the tile floor.

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Next chapter:

Chapter 2: Dreams     In the month after, Kavvie finds herself making snacks for Keita. To cheer herself and everyone else up, she decides to tell stories....

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¹This MS is based off of the 08th MS Team Zeon Apocalypse.


	3. Chapter 2: Dreams

Sometimes We Love (Over Coffee)  
by Kawaii Dragoness  
Chapter 2: Dreams

Notes: In Keita's POV...that's it for now....

Reminder: "speech" thoughts ~sound effects~ emphasis

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It was a month after the tragic battle between Phoenix and Wufei, and Kavvie had yet to recover. She was now accustomed to wearing black--tight black leather pants, a semi-tight low black T-shirt, and matching black hiking boots.We had made it = to her aunt's beachfront house and paid for our stay in keeping for the attached general store. 

Since we were in the Philippines in the dry season, I was hoping for Kavvie to feel somewhat better and get rid of the black clothes--it just didn't work on her! But no--it actually made her even more depressed. I knew the battle had done a lot to her, but this was really going too far. 

Her room was quite nice, actually--peach-colored with a hardwood floor and a window seat looking out onto the ocean with transluscent white curtains and pink glow-in-the-dark strings of beads. There was a twin-sized captain's bed with pink sheets and two pillows in a corner, and in another there was a desk with her white iBook and a wireless printer--as well as a stack of books. The books were mostly Filipino, since she was resolved to learning the language during our stay. However, I could discern a Tagalog/English/Tagalog dictionary, a few old Animerica magazines, some manga translated in either Filipino or English (she had some of both), her old artbooks, and quite a few American fanfiction. Once an otaku, always an otaku--only Kavvie! 

I entered this room on a beautiful day in June--23 June, I believe--yes, yes! It was my birthday...my 17th. She was sitting in her window seat, looking out towards the ocean, again wearing all-black. There was something sad in her eyes, something lifeless. I wanted to feel sorry for her, but I was a girl on a mission, and that mission was to cheer her up. "You're not Kavvie, are you?" I asked her. 

She turned around, her black eyes searching for answers to questions I did not know, but knew I could not answer. "Keita?" she asked simply.

"Kavvie does not wear all-black in the Philippines in the dry season. Kavvie is not a Goth. Kavvie would usually be joyous when she is in her home country. Kavvie would have something better to do than stare out of a window all day. And Kavvie definitely wouldn't be this sad, especially here!" I went up to her window seet and stared straight into her black eyes, my face right before her own. "You're not Kavvie are you? Are you? Hm? Hm?!" 

"Oh, Keita...Kavvie should also never be this lonely. Kavvie should be walking on that beach with Wufei, telling him all about her home, and being happy with him. But that obviously can't happen.... Unlike you, people I've respected and admired haven't been dying around my feet once every couple of years. I'm not used to this. I...I can't get over it. I loved him...I really did. And...." She looked at her ring, something she had only been wearing after his death. It was golden with a pear-shaped diamond, two Oriental dragons reaching up towards its tip. Above that tip was a tiny circular ruby. It was a beautiful ring, and I had wondered about its origins before--but apparently the only people that knew were Kavvie and Wufei. Wufei had forever been silenced, and Kavvie always said she'd tell us "another time".

"Well, can Kavvie emerge out of her misery for a moment and make the birthday girl some snacks?" I asked. I was hungry, and these odd Filipino snacks had a strange influence on me. Besides, she usually felt better when she was cooking.

"All right, all right. Oh, of course! I nearly forgot that you haven't tried the ube paste yet--my dad used to make it when I was little...." Kavvie said with a smile. "I'll make you a cake too, but the ube first--much more fun that way, and warm cake is better than warm ube. Now can you get out of my face so I can get off of this ledge and cook it for you?"

"Gladly." I jumped off the ledge and let her out, following her to the kitchen.

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The kitchen was a humble, darker (yet cooler) place than most of the other rooms--which, thanks to money sent through Kavvie by the pilots, were renovated. It had a simple stove and cabinets and a small refrigerator, and a decent dark green countertop. Ally-chan had been searching the cabinets for a snack of her own when we arrived.

"Making something, Kavvie?" she asked simply.

"Yup. It's ube paste this time. I'll make it for everyone. Thank Keita for it." Kavvie replied, bending down to search the refrigerator for ingredients.

"Think we could help?" Ally-chan asked. "I need something to do with my time."

"Sure...it usually takes quite a while anyway...hmm. Keita, do you want to help too?"

"Sure thing." I said. "What do you need?"

"Look in the cabinets for some purple yams--if they have the powder, get two packets. If they have the actual yams, get six decent-sized ones." I opened up the cabinets and began my search. "Ally-chan, get a can of condesended milk and the grater I used for the coconuts before for the kutchinta--but only get the grater if Keita gets actual yams." Ally-chan joined me, and I heard a few soft ~thumps~ as Kavvie put milk, sugar, vanilla extract, a large pot, measuring spoons and cups, and a wooden spoon on the countertop.

Soon enough, we were about to start stirring the ingredients in the pot. Heero and Duo had come in and wanted to help too, so we all took turns stirring the pot. Then, I got an idea that would answer a lot of questions and help quite a bit on my "mission."

"Kavvie," I said, "I have an idea. Why not let the person stirring the pot tell a little story? We could use a good laugh here and there, or say 'Awwwwwww' to a kawaii sap, or cry with you. And I'm sure you have much to tell. Why don't you start?" I handed her the stirring spoon.

"It's an idea," Kavvie said. She took the stirring spoon and began to stir, thinking carefully of the story she wanted to tell. "All right, I got it. My life technically started on 9 July 180, nearly at midnight, but...."

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Next chapter:

Chapter 3: Beginnings     The storytelling begins--with the beginnings of three close relationships the girls establish early on.


End file.
